A mother who lost her daughter to liver disease five years ago is urging people to join the donor register and help save a life.

Kate Thomas from Sapcote is campaigning for more people to sign up to the register as she knows first hand the difference it can make.

On June 30 2009, Kate’s daughter Sharon Lewis lost her long battle against cirrhosis at the age of 39 after months of waiting for a liver transplant.

Kate, 64, said: “I always say to people that while it might not be important to them now it could be one day. One day it could be a member of their family who needs a transplant.”

Sharon, who lived in Barwell with her partner Eric Lewis and their son Curtis, had suffered from the illness for 11 years despite being a non-drinker. In 2006 she underwent a liver transplant but her body showed signs of rejection and she had to be put back on the waiting list.

In the five years since her daughter’s death Kate has campaigned tirelessly to get people to understand the importance of carrying a donor card. She said: “This is on my mind constantly and there is not a day that goes by when I don’t think about Sharon.

“We just want to raise awareness. People have not got enough information about becoming a donor and it is so important because it is horrendous waiting for a match to arrive.

“Every day I prayed that a match would come along for Sharon because I knew if it didn’t I would lose my child.”

Sharon’s story touched the community in May 2009 when, as her condition deteriorated, she proposed to long-term partner Eric in hospital. Less than 48 hours later the couple got married in a ceremony at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital watched by nurses, doctors, friends and family including Curtis who was just seven at the time.

Kate said: “Curtis is 11 now and he wants everybody to join the donor list. He wants people to understand the difference it could make because he knows a transplant could have saved his mum.

“As a family we have tried very hard to get people to sign up. We have stood on the streets and stopped people to explain how they can help.”

Sharon’s younger sister Donna Baxter, 43, is right behind her mum in the fight to raise awareness. She said: “I tend to find that people are a little bit scared and a little bit misinformed about becoming a donor. A lot of people don’t want their family to have to go through the process of being asked what organs they can take following a death.

“But I try to explain that if you help save someone else’s life then your family would probably feel extremely proud - I know I would.”

Over the last five years Kate has handed out some 10,000 donor cards to members of the public. She said: “If I only get 10 out of those 10,000 to sign up it’s worthwhile and could save a life.”

She added: “Sharon was an unbelievable person. As long as she could make others happy she was happy and whenever she walked into a room she would make everybody laugh.

“I miss her every single day and I don’t want anyone to have to go through what we have been through.”

For more information about the donor register or to sign up visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk